An Introduction Is In Order: Welcome to Lander

Sometimes we forget how much Lander Wyoming and the Wind River Mountains have to offer and how that might feel to a visitor or newcomer. As a way of introduction, we asked our new clothing and footwear manager, Chrissy Holley to write a blog post about her arrival in this area, having worked for several years in Southern California and recently escaping to our neck of the woods. Here is Chrissy’s introductory blog post and please be sure to come on into the store and welcome Chrissy!

Chrissy Holley

You’re not in Southern California anymore!

So there I was, sitting behind a desk in an office doing a job I loved in a city I didn’t. On my daily three hour, 75 mile commute, I would sit day dreaming of wide open spaces. A small town with personality, people who would take the time to stop and say “hello” and endless outdoor adventures. A place with all four seasons! Then an aggressive horn in the distance would snap me out of it and back to reality I came.

Just because Wyoming is high up, doesn’t mean we look down on newcomers!

After years of hard-earned experience, dedication and hard work, I finally made it to where I wanted to be in my career. And when you have your dream job, you don’t leave it, right? The longer it took me to get to and from work, the more people that populated the city, the closer the city walls closed in on me, the louder the call of the wild became. And as fate would have it, it was a man who made me hit the ground running to that wild call without a second thought. Lander Wyoming or bust!

You don’t need planes, trains and automobiles in Wyoming.

Being stuck in a car 15 hours a week in the city, there isn’t a lot of time to get out and adventure. Lucky for me, I ended up with a man who is Mr. Adventure and I’ve been making up for lost time ever since! And we picked the best place to make up for lost adventure time. Since arriving in Lander a few months ago, I’m taking advantage of all that Lander has to offer. Hiking with an impromptu rappel off a cliff in Johnny Behind the Rocks? CHECK! Cross country skiing at Beaver Creek? (Negative six degrees in ungroomed conditions?) YEP! Fat bike rides up the closed road and through trails in Sinks Canyon? YOU BET! Hiking out to the frozen waterfall in Sinks Canyon? NAILED IT! Snowshoeing up a mountain five minutes out of town? OF COURSE! And that’s just our winter adventures. With warm weather around the corner, a whole new list of outdoor adventures is in the works.

It’s not just the antelope who play here in Wyoming

Coming from Southern California, gear for winter conditions was something I knew nothing about. Gore-Tex? Thermaline? Baselayers? BUFFS? This was a whole new language for me. Not only did I not speak it, I didn’t own it! And it’s as necessary as water to have when living and adventuring in Lander. Driving through town, cold and unprepared, that’s when I saw the sign. The light hit me and it illuminated me. It was the “OPEN” sign for Wind River Outdoor Company. Fate had struck me again. Not only did WROC prepare me to thrive in my new conditions, they even gave me a job! A job doing what I left behind in California; doing what I love!

I’m not fully caught up to speed in my new state and new language, and in contrast, I haven’t fully slowed down my city pace. But I’m in the perfect spot, living and working, to do so. In closing, when the wild calls, you answer. The wild called me and I hit the ground running to the most beautiful place and I’m lucky to call Lander and WROC my new home.